Accell Group
Accell Group is a Dutch company that owns multiple top-quality bicycle brands, including Batavus and Sparta. They also have their own Reliability & Research Center (RCC), which created a testing setup that performs vibration tests on bicycles. This way Accell can test the quality of their products before they are sold on the global market.
The device simulates the effects of road vibrations on the bicycle. The frequencies resulting from the vibrations are reproduced, so that Accell can test the life span of the entire bike within a day. This way they can quickly see whether a brake cable wears out too quickly, or if the bicycle stand starts to rattle after 3,000 kilometres for instance.
The test setup had already been developed, but the software wasn't user-friendly. There was no test specific GUI (Graphical User Interface) and documentation was lacking. A good solution had to be found to make it easier to carry out the tests.
Roland, the owner of BearTree Automation, was introduced to the people of Accell at a trade fair. This created the contact that led to the collaboration. Because BearTree has a lot of knowledge in test automation and has more than 20 years of experience with LabVIEW, the choice was obvious.
BearTree wrote the software in LabVIEW. The software is controlled by a computer that is in direct contact with the test setup. After the test has been completed, the program produces a handy and visually attractive report. Complete documentation has also been written so that the engineers at Accell can use the software properly.
“Roland is truly a professional. He has an open personality and is very social. Due to Corona, we mainly communicated using Microsoft Teams, but that contact always went well.”
– Mark Prinsen
A highlight in the collaboration was the completion of the project. It took months of hard work and everyone was delighted that the project was successfully finished.
A funny situation arose during the project. A delivery driver accidentally delivered 200 bicycle helmets instead of 2 actuators. Fortunately, this was resolved immediately.